While hard to believe, it’s now been over one and a half years since I took delivery of my 2016 BMW 228i xDrive. I’m happy to report that it has been a pleasurable and trouble free ownership experience so far, and I still love my 2 Series as much as the first day I drove it. Nearing 20,000 miles on the clock, I thought it was an appropriate time to give a little update, along with this awesome professional review by my friend Tom on his YouTube channel, Tedward.

Now with plenty of miles of daily driving, I can confidently say that that 2 Series suits me well. Among the things about it I love are its size, its styling, its coupe bodystyle, its handling, and its comfortable and supportive front seats. It’s a really fun car to toss around, and the overall feel is about as close to an in-touch “back to basics” BMW driving experience as one can get.

I haven’t taken many long road trips in it, the longest being to the very tip of Cape Cod, and its only out-of-state journey I can recall was to Newport, RI, but whether back roads or highway, going to work or headed into the city for a night out, the 2 Series is an amazing daily driver. Its compact size and athletic proportions make it perfect for zipping in and out of traffic

In my year and a half of ownership so far, the 2 Series has never let me down. BMW’s xDrive intelligent all-wheel drive system, coupled with its torque-vectoring Dynamic Performance Control and Dynamic Stability Control, gives the 228 superb all-weather capability, especially in snowy conditions. Compared with my previous all-wheel and front-wheel drive vehicles and any all-wheel drive SUV of my mom’s I’ve driven, the 228 is the most confident in the snow, something helped by its compact size, rangy wheelbase, and 50/50 weight distribution.

Truthfully, there really isn’t very much that I don’t like about the 2 Series. Though adequate, I definitely wouldn’t complain about a little more power — something that could be easily solved by opting for the M240 next time around. The interior could benefit from a few higher end trimmings, and now I’m sounding bougie, but soft-close doors, something offered in BMW’s larger models would be a welcomed option as I often miscalculate how much effort is needed to pull shut its large and heavy coupe doors.

I’m seriously considering getting another when the lease on this one is up, should I need to directly replace it. As I mentioned a few months back in my article on my mother’s 2013 Mercedes GLK, we were getting a third household vehicle to share for the near future, a car we took delivery of two months ago, on December 23. That vehicle’s COAL article is in the works — I’ve been working on it the past few weeks and its currently about 50 percent done — but until then I’m keeping it under wraps to CC.

With mom now likely trading the GLK in for something new before the end of this year, and my lease on this up next summer, I’ll more than likely just fully assume the formerly shared car, and turn the 228 in at the end of its lease, effectively returning to a more normal one car per person household. But that’s down the line. What I can say now is that I’m very happy with my BMW 228i xDrive, and I’m glad to finally have a video of it to literally show some of the joy it gives me.

29 Comments

Why BMW choose 2-Series nomenclature for its first-ever front-wheel-drive vans is beyond me. 2-Series Active Tourer and Grand Tourer have more than two doors and are much, much taller than the coupé, tossing the hallowed BMW nomenclature into more confusion…

I hadn’t heard that the new 1-series was out yet – it will soon replace the current hatch too. A shame really given for so long BMW was ‘against’ fwd. Surely it will eventually erode their reason for being?

OliverTwist

Posted March 3, 2018 at 5:00 AM

The biggest reason is the need to amortise the cost of platform development quickly. Not cheap if the FWD platform is exclusive to one brand or one car with little return of investment or agonising slow amortisation.

Like Fiat’s Marchionne, BMW desperately seek the partners as to spread the love of its FWD platform. Having no luck in that romance department, BMW came up with the brilliant idea of using its new UKL-platform for its first-ever FWD vehicle bearing the blue-and-white spinning propeller logo and first-ever van. Still not contented with its trippin’ way, BMW also overdosed on its UKL-platform with X1-Series.

Will that also spread to 1-Series like it did with Chinese exclusive 1-Series Saloon? Stay tuned for the next week episode…

I have to agree with you in regards to xdrive. I’ve been driving my 2001 330xi for the last four years and although i’ve had to drop a load of money into it(previous owner treated it like crap)the car has been very reliable and in the snow…….only my 01 subaru,98 audi a4 and 97 suburban top this car. although i have to say after 4 years of driving it it’s a total and balanced blast to drive. but the roughnes is getting to me. i wont get rid of it, but i am looking for something more broughamy for a daily driver(not to mention that NYC potholes try to destroy this car) your 228xi is really nice,love the interior color and can understand your liking that car. although i prefer a 4 door. few cars can out handle a bimmer!!

If I can jump in, on my BMW lease, all the maintenance is included free for 3 years (it used to be 4), and this includes everything but tires – down to windshield wipers which they replaced without my having requested it at my last service. As for oil BMW likes Castor-oil synthetic with changes around 15,000 miles or once a year. Warranty is 4 years/50,000 miles bumper to bumper. I really like my BMW as it’s a competent car which just seems to handle things with aplomb.

I did an 1100 mile trip recently and averaged 65 mph, and 31 mpg and the trip was effortless. (Note: I live in the West, I never exceeded the speed limit by more than 10%, which is our rule of thumb for ‘legal’. Although I was in a hurry not of my choice I really enjoyed that drive. Not tiring at all.

So, I really like the car. Having had a series of them over the last 15 years or so, I will say that I don’t buy them anymore. I used to but owning a modern BWM out of warranty is… scary. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a CPO used one with the 100,000 mile warranty, but there are just too many mysterious electrical systems nowadays.

As an example- in Home Depot parking lot a guy backing out dented the corner of my rear bumper, Camry style. No big deal. Took it to the BMW approved shop, and they just replaced the bumper cover. However, when I got into the car to leave the shop, neither the stereo nor the A/C worked….? The shop owner told me that apparently the body guys had left a connection lose when they replaced the (yes) *rear* bumper cover. He told me just to take it to the dealer and have them fix it and bill him. I did, and they did.

A couple weeks ago a friend hit a pot hole in his low mileage one owner e90 and knocked one of the adaptive headlights out of alignment – and the control module below it was damaged. $215 for the diagnostic eval and over $2000 to repair one headlight. These cars are crazy complex and major money to maintain out of warranty.

All maintenance is included for the first 36-months/36,000-miles, except for tires, so my maintenance costs have been $0. Mine is a 2016, so I lucked out. 2017 and newer models have decreased maintenance coverage, which no longer included items such as brake pads and rotors. It mostly just covers fluid changes and filter changes now.

All new BMW engines are designed to run on full synthetic oil and only need oil changes every 10,000 miles or 1-year. The vehicle does alert you when your next oil change is due, and mine has needed them a bit more frequently than 10,000 miles, likely based on my driving habits. Still, they are all included.

I’ve had no issues with iDrive. I was very used to it prior to owing a BMW, given my experience working for the company. BMW updated it to version 6 for the 2017 model year, which did take a little more getting used to whenever I’ve driven a 2017 or newer BMW, but now that I am I will say that it is an improvement – not that I have any issues with version 5 in my car. The nice thing about it is basically any function has 2-4 ways of doing it to accommodate the driver’s preference.

This car always reminded me of a modern spin on the 2002 and the original E21 3-series, and good to see that if this (and the i3 I drove last year) are anything to go by, BMW can still safely use “The Ultimate Driving Machine” slogan.

Very cool video. Have to admit, I’m a bit jealous, because you have a REAL BMW. It reminds me of the E36 and E46 models I once had–excellent dynamics, real drivers cars, beautifully focused. I was a bit older than you when I got my first Bimmer (27), but I fell in love HARD, and became a long-term customer.

As you know, we currently have an F10 535Xdrive. Needless to say, it’s not your car. Back in the day, the E35 and E39 5 Series were akin to the 3s, only larger–but the dynamics were there. Now we have a Bavarian Buick….

I sincerely hope BMW keeps building at least some cars like this–they definitely need customers like you!

The 2 Series definitely is the closest thing BMW currently offers to its honest-to-goodness “humble” ultimate driving machines (and I say that because M cars don’t count for comparison purposes). As you can tell, I’ve been very happy with it so far.

I am glad that you are still a loyal BMW client. The F10 535 is still an excellent car. Sure, a bit softer, but I’d hardly compare it to the softness of a Buick, or even an E-Class.

Have you had a chance to drive the new G30 5 Series yet? I have to say, I was quite impressed with the first new 540 I drove last year. It’s still no E39 but there’s definitely some of the old BMW coming back in it. It’s surprisingly stiff for its class with more of a connected feel.